As the G7 summit in Canada drew to a close on 9 June, US president Donald Trump seemed to make a complete about-face. Though a long-time critic of free trade, which he says has caused great harm to the United States, he demanded that other G7 members drop all trade barriers to US goods. Otherwise, he would unilaterally end all trade with them. Trump described tariffs on US goods as “ridiculous and unfair,” and said that “it’s going to stop — or we’ll stop trading with them.”
Trump’s G7 allies respond
Responses from other G7 nations were mixed. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau calledTrump’s reasons for imposing tariffs on Canada “insulting”.
